For those wishing to erase their credit card debt, they must first face up to the amount they owe. It is only by doing this, and not hiding away the credit card bill within dusty drawers, that you will begin to solve the problem. Now it is time to take the bull by the horns, and wipe out that credit card debt, once and for all.
The one, sure-fire way of wiping out all of your credit card debt, is by declaring yourself bankrupt. By doing this, you are legally erasing the mounting credit card debt that you may have. However, there are things to seriously consider before you go down the route of ‘bankruptcy’.
The most important things to consider is the fact that you will never again – as long as you declare yourself ‘bankrupt – be able to apply for higher purchase, or apply for a mortgage, purchase a car on H/P [Higher Purchase] or apply for any type of catalogue. In fact, you will not be able to apply for any type of higher purchase payments when you are bankrupt. Yes, you will be debt free, but if one considers the route of bankruptcy, then one will have to seriously consider your name being blacklisted for up to 15 years.
Indeed, declaring yourself bankrupt can affect every aspect of your life, financially, in a big way. This is why the decision to declare yourself bankrupt should not be taken without a great deal of thought. However, what you have to consider is that ‘bankruptcy’ is your very last resort. Before your credit card problem gets to the point of no return, there are things you can do to alleviate the problem.
The first thing is to sit down and see what things you can sell to clear your credit card debt. If you own any kind of property then this has to be looked at carefully. How much would you feasibly get back on that property you own? If you cannot face with selling your property, then the next stage is to look at what is sellable within your home.
You may have to sell any precious items you have in order to pay off the credit card debt you owe. Also, you will almost certainly have to ‘cut back’ on the things you would normally spend your money on – which is another way of saving money toward the debt in the long run.
If you own stocks or shares then these too, would have to be sold, to pay off your credit card debt. Of course, property – which includes your family home’ – could be at high risk’ if you decide to declare yourself ‘bankrupt. Obviously, as mentioned above, you would have to take this into serious consideration before you reach the decision of bankruptcy.
If you have no income, or little or no assets to speak about, then bankruptcy would be your only – legal way – to clear your credit card debt. Of course, If you do have considerable ‘assets – such as your family home, your car, stocks and shares, then you will be affected the most by your decision to become bankrupt.
So, to sum up, before you reach the stage of bankruptcy, look at all other options. After all, you do not want to end up losing your family home, because of bankruptcy? So, look at the assets within your home that you can sell on. Would those assets be enough to cover your credit card debt? If so, then you are in the clear. This would mean assets like your car or motorbike, television/s, computers, and anything else that will help bring that credit card debt down.
If you have no other choice but to declare yourself bankrupt – thereby clearing your credit card debt – your name will be blacklisted for up to 15 years. This will have an enormous financial affect on you, in that you will not be able to apply for higher purchase. You could also find it very difficult in opening up a new bank account. You could also – as explained above – lose your home, and any stocks and shares you may have. So, consider seriously, before you make that decision in how to clear your credit card debt.
One more thing to remember, which is vitally important. The longer that you are in credit card debt, the more interest you will have to pay ON TOP of the original debt. This is why people are urged to pay their credit card bill in full, on or before the due date. This is because by doing this, there then will be no, ‘APR’ [Annual Percentage Rate] added onto your bill.